Masquarade
by Nina Vale
Summary: Winter is forced to attend her parent's anniversary masquerade and things couldn't be worse but maybe an appearance of a masked man with red eyes, will make it more bearable? Qrowin Week Additional Prompt: Masquerade


I do not own RWBY.

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Yes, I know. I'm late but I got blocked on the AU day and had pretty much no idea for the On Guard one :P. I'm terrible at deadline prompts, ok? I blank out even when I do have an idea...so I decided to make a follow up to Safety and other prompts

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Warning: It gets sappy and sugary at the end. Please proceed with caution as this establishment does not cover dental.

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Winter sighed deeply as she tried to navigate her way around the guests... Her family was holding another function, and this time both her and Weiss had to be there, as it was their parent's wedding anniversary. It amused Winter, in a rather bitter sort of way, that her father would still do this, celebrate the anniversaries of a marriage that meant nothing to him, and which his wife wasn't even allowed to attend. He even had a guard keep an eye on her and bring her alcohol, as long as she didn't leave her chambers.

She turned around to look the man in question. He was across the room from her, talking and laughing with some of his guests. He was dressed in a pristine white suit and had a steel mask on his face. The party has been a masquerade since they had become increasingly popular amongst her class lately. All with dressing up in suits with cravats and beautiful, princess gowns. She herself was wearing a large, frilly dress with red linings and a red rose on her waist. Her mask was white and shaped as if it was made out of icicles.

Her father laughed out loud again, at something one of his "friends" had said, and she was glad she wasn't anywhere near to hear what they were talking about. She hated those conversations, they never failed to make her blood boil. They were so...pointless, empty, and often ignorant when they strayed on social, political or work-related issues. She has heard a couple of times already how these people view hunters and their jobs, sometimes they even had the gall to talk like they were experts and knew better how things should have been done or passed on harsh judgement on failed missions. And it infuriated her. They didn't know how it was out there, how sometimes you couldn't do anything anymore because you were outnumbered, they had no idea of horrors hunters(and soldiers) faced, so THEY the citizens could live comfortably in their homes and could worry about latest hairstyles, and speed down the streets in newest sports cars. And how all these horrors stayed with you for years if not your entire life. She took a deep breath, there was no point in working herself up over this. Let them say what they wanted. Let them judge, their opinion didn't matter.

"Miss Schnee" she was woken from her reverie by a posh, bored voice. She turned around and saw a young man in a black vest and a laced mask "I must say you look gorgeous tonight"

"Thank you...Mr...I'm sorry I do not think we have been introduced," she said, keeping her voice even

"Cyrus Green" he introduced himself with a sickeningly sweet smile "please forgive my lack of manners Miss Schnee, but your heavenly beauty captivated me just so much that I forgot my own name"

It took all of her self-restraint not to roll her eyes at him or make a face. And here she thought that some of Qrow's pick up lines were horrible. On the other hand, when Qrow pretended to be high class and used big words, he usually wasn't being serious. This guy here? He legitimately thought she'd be swooning over his words. And she was sure he wasn't saying this to be nice or to really make her feel good about herself. He was trying to score some points with her to get her to get to her father's good books or maybe he thought that since she was close to General Ironwood she'd get him to bestow political favours. Sometimes she really hated being recognised like that. But she knew that she had to answer. Causing a scene just because of a bad pick up line was extremely childish.

"Thank you," she said, offering him another polite smile. She purposely didn't add any negation of his words or attempted to downplay them with a wave and a blush. She knew he was expecting it, that he was waiting for her to say 'but I'm not really that beautiful' or 'but you are grossly exaggerating'. In her circles, it was expected of young and single women to react like this. She had immense satisfaction from watching Cyrus Green deflate, and look totally at loss as to what he should say next. He composed himself, however.

"Well," he said "as I was saying. You look breathtaking, which is why I came to ask...would you care for a dance?"

She shook her head " Thank you, but no, sir. I was just "

With that, she made her way forward, but he appeared before her again, blocking her way.

"Please, Miss Schnee," he said "give me your first dance. It is a pity and a sin that such a beautiful woman should not dance"

"Thank you" she repeated "but I'm really not interested in dancing right now"

She made another attempt at getting away from him and tried to walk past him but he grabbed her wrist, spinning her around strong enough to almost made her collide with him.

"Please," he said, leaning in "just one dance Miss...please let me have the honour of being your first partner tonight. I can dance very well"

She felt anger surge through her veins. She was a Schnee, she was a specialist in the Atlesian Military. She was General's most trusted operative. And this guy? He was just a spoiled, rich kid that had his driver get him everywhere he wanted. She easily wriggled herself out of his grasp and gave him one of her harshest glares.

"No," she said, in an icy tone "I will not give you a chance. I have said I do not feel like dancing at the moment, and I meant it"

She turned around and marched away as quickly as she could. She really needed that drink. Preferably with something strong in it. She found a waiter really fast and took one of the tall wine glasses from the silver plate. She almost downed it all at once. It helped to calm her down, so when she reached for another glass she was ready to enjoy the drink. She wasn't even into her second sip when someone approached her and put a hand on her shoulder. She felt her irritation rise again. She has already told this idiot she wasn't interested.

"Hey Win-" started the stranger.

She clenched her jaw and whirled around with a scowl on her face

"Listen, I've already told you that..." but the angry words caught in her throat when she saw who was before her. She had been expecting Cyrus Green again, trying to get her to dance with him, but instead of the snobbish young man, she found herself looking at Qrow.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there Ice Queen," he said, putting his hands in the air.

She felt a blush of embarrassment creep on her face. She just let her emotions control her and blew up at the first person who came near her. How unbecoming of a specialist. And to top it up she blew up at a man who came to this whole event solely because he felt concerned for her- and her sister's she was sure- safety. She felt really stupid for that.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I thought you were someone else"

"I figured as much," he said, "Do you need me to, I don't know...punch someone behind the house?"

She rolled her eyes "Thank you, but there's no need. It was just a very annoying guy. I can handle the likes of him myself. It's really fine"

He visibly relaxed. Now that they cleared everything up-well aside from how he got there but she was sure he had his ways-She took her time to look him up and down. He was wearing the same suit he had been the last time he'd been here. Though now it was much neater and he was wearing a cravat instead of a tie. He also was wearing a mask, that looked like it was made out of black steel. It really brought out the burgundy colour of his eyes. A shiver ran down her spine.

"You look nice" she offered.

"Thank you," he said "You look really pretty tonight, too. I especially like your mask. It fits you"

She nodded in acknowledgement, as a warm feeling spread through her heart. They stood in silence for a while. Qrow was the one to break it

"So..." he started "would you like to dance?"

She debated the offer in silence for a second. She hated her father's functions and would rather stay aside, but on the other hand, she should probably appear on the dance floor at least once. For the sake of good manners. And it wasn't like she disliked dancing on a principle. And she'd learned from the last time that Qrow was an excellent dancer.

"Yes," she said "I would love to"

He smiled at her before giving her a small bow and extending his hand. She gave him hers, and they made their way to the dance floor. He spun her around, before pulling her closer and wrapping his other hand around her waist. The music started, and they began to spin around, to the slow tune of the waltz.

In the past, when she would be watching movies with Weiss, very often the princess and her prince would end up dancing together, and everything and everyone around them would fade. Back then Winter had always rolled her eyes at this, seeing it as just an easy visual way to end the story and roll the credits. People could not just lose themselves like this, on a ball, with so many people around. She would know. However now, as she danced with Qrow, and found herself looking into his face, that despite being hidden behind a mask had this soft look of concern and affection, the room around them, well it might not have disappeared into nothingness, but it did fade into the background noise. She let out a sigh and pressed herself closer to him, before putting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes. She might have thought of this party pointless and she hated most of the people that attended it, but with Qrow there she found she didn't really care all that much. She felt his lips press to the side of her head. Yes, she really didn't care.

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This was sappy and cliched, I know. But...ah it just sorta wrote itself. y'know especially as I've been listening to Dark Waltz & Masquerade music while writing it. I especially loved Moonlit Dust and Veil of Starlight.


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